South Wales Rocks welcomes a guest post from a trainee journalist at Cardiff University, Ben Rogers. Ben is also a rock music blogger who runs Live and Loud Rock and has given South Wales Rocks a countdown of his top five rock albums to come out of South Wales in the last 10 years.
5. Memory and Humanity – Funeral for a Friend
The year before the release of Memory and Humanity, Funeral for a Friend released their concept album Tales Don’t Tell Themselves and to say this split the opinion of critics would be an understatement. Although this album doesn’t see the band go back to their post-hardcore roots, it does act as the obvious successor to their 2005 release, Hours. In You Can’t See the Forest for the Wolves, the band has penned the type of track which made Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation an instant classic. A soft acoustic section is soon followed by the heaviest riff heard on a Funeral album for years. This acts as a warm-up for the albums best track, Waterfront Dance Club. Containing one of the hugest choruses you will ever hear, it is almost impossible to not succumb to the need to belt the lyrics out along with Matt Davies, who delivers some of the best vocals since the band formed. Despite never hitting the peaks that their debut album managed, Memory and Humanity is a brilliant album which will be abusing speakers for many years to come.
4. The Betrayed – Lostprophets
The Betrayed was doomed from the start. Lostprophets, having written and recorded a follow up to 2006s Liberation Transmission, decided to scrap it and start afresh. Following such chaotic recording circumstances, fans were more than a little concerned that the album would feel rushed, but how wrong they were.
Both heavier and darker than previous albums, The Betrayed spans numerous genres while always managing to blow away the competition. Screamo (Next Stop, Atro City), arena rock (Where We Belong) and metal (Dstryr/Dstryr) are all present in the album and it is impressive that the band have managed to include such variety without the album sounding disjointed.
The Betrayed may not be perfect, but it is the best Lostprophets album to date, and one which they will find very difficult to improve on with their next release, although they will give it their best shot I am sure.
3. The Best in Town – The Blackout
In a year which saw the release of albums by Alexisonfire, Silverstein and Thrice it would have been forgiven if The Best In Town had fallen by the wayside, outshined by their more experienced predecessors. This was not the case however, as The Blackout put together 10 tracks which blew its competition out of the water.
From brilliant opener Shutthefuckuppercut to album closer We’re Going to Hell…So Bring the Sunblock, The Blackout prove that they are a force to be reckoned with. The heaviness of their debut album remains, but the songs have been fused with hooks that grab the listener by the scruff of the neck and force them to pay attention.
It is testament to the quality of this album that there are no standout tracks, all of the songs available here are brilliant. Whether it be the juxtaposition of visceral screams alongside the backing vocals performed by a group of children on Children of the Night, or the cheeky I Love Myself and I Want to Live, a stab at Nirvana’s depressing I Hate Myself and I Want to Die, there are no weak tracks at all. It is fair to say that with this release, The Blackout proved their critics wrong and showed that the title of the album is indeed very apt.
2. Fever – Bullet For My Valentine
If debut album The Poison was the band finding its feet and follow up Scream.Aim.Fire was them losing their footing, then Fever sees BFMV finding their way to the top of the heavy metal ladder and from the sound of things they intend to stay put.
The heavy riffs of albums gone by remain, but Fever sees them balanced by both hooks and melodies which will be scrapping in your brain for hours after listening. That each single released from the album found its way onto the Radio 1 playlist is a testament to how well written this album is. Of course the lyrical content remains the same, but it wouldn’t be a BFMV album without tracks of broken romances.
Your Betrayal picks up where Tears Don’t Fall left off on the band’s debut album, while Bittersweet Memories and Pretty On The Outside prove that the band belong in huge arenas. Matt Tuck’s vocals are stronger than ever before, and the clean delivery which dominates most of the album is driven by the right amount of screams that fans of both styles will enjoy.
In Fever, BFMV merged what made The Poison and Scream.Aim.Fire sell by the bucket load and shined it up into one of the best mainstream metal albums to be released in a very long time.
1. Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation – Funeral for a Friend
Funeral for a Friend may have released five full length studio albums, but none of them have been able to hold a torch to their 2003 debut album Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation. The album boasts the perfect balance of intricate guitar pieces, huge riffs, complex time signatures and brutal vocals without ever sounding anything below brilliant.
From start to finish, the band penned one of the best albums this generation has ever heard. Juneau was an instant classic and has been a staple in the band’s live shows ever since. Although She Drove Me to Daytime Television is possibly the heaviest the band has ever been, Escape Artists Never Die is clearly the standout track of the album. The instrumental breakdown and resultant cry of “please someone help me, I’m dying here in front of you” just over halfway through the song still gives me goosebumps over 8 years after the track was first released.
Your Revolution is a Joke shows the band’s ability to be both gentle among the raucous nature of the rest of the album without the track sounding out of place, and closing track Novella is the perfect parting shot, leaving fans begging for more of the same. Although they have tried; both Hours and Memory and Humanity have gained commercial recognition and a place in the hearts of their fans. But nothing a Funeral for a Friend have released since this album has come close to topping what is one of the best rock albums ever released.
Check out Ben’s blog on rock music, Live and Loud Rock
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